The present invention generally relates to miter saws, and more particularly to an adjustable fence assembly for a miter or similar saw.
Most power miter saws that are presently being commercialized are capable of cutting work pieces at different miter angles as well as bevel angles. While all miter saws have a fence for positioning a work piece to be cut, the configuration of the fence can have various designs and capabilities. Since some miter saws have a bevel angle that can be adjusted from a straight cut to bevel angled cuts on one or both sides of vertical orientation, the design of the fence must be able to accommodate such capability.
Many current miter saws also have a compound action whereby the blade and motor assembly can be physically moved relative to the table in a direction parallel with the plane of the blade, rather than just a pivoting or chop saw type of cutting action. With such compound motion, the blade and motor assembly will move from a rearward position to one forwardly of it either preparatory to the cut or during the cut. The fence must therefore be configured for these types of saws as well as saws that do not have compound motion capability to enable the blade and motor assembly to be operated through its range of motion without interference. It is also common place for current miter saws to have a lower fence on both sides of the blade. Because it is desirable to have a fence with some appreciable height, both regular and compound miter saws often have at least one upper upper fence that is attached on top a lower generally lower fence. The upper fence adds height to the lower fence and can also be adjusted to be closer to the blade for transverse cuts and can be moved away from the blade so that the blade and motor assembly can be adjusted for making miter angled cuts without interference with the upper fence.
An important consideration is that the front face of the upper fence be coplanar with the front face of the lower fence to a high degree of accuracy when they are secured to one another and that they do not become out of square when the attachment mechanism is tightened. It is also important that the upper fence section be easily removed so that extreme compound angled cuts can be made that would otherwise not be possible.